Murtagh wasn’t supposed to wander, he knew that but the bigger he got the more he felt the desire to get out and explore. The Falls was wonderful, the Falls was his home but there was a great wide world out there and he hadn’t even seen half of it yet! So although he wasn’t supposed to wander he never left the Falls without letting someone know first. He wanted to explore but he didn’t want his mothers to worry - the young colt was far too considerate for that, loved them far too much to forget to let them know where he was going.

More often than not, that usually meant he earned himself a bear as an escort - but, again, Murtagh didn’t mind. How could he begrudge the methods of those who loved him? They only wanted to see him safe, after all. There was nothing suffocating about his family life - his desire to wander and explore was born out of a need to learn instead of a need to escape.

This afternoon it was a quick promise to return as soon as possible before heading out in the golden autumn light, bucking with delight and eager to see what they would find today. Would they find monsters like his Papa had fought? The idea was just as exciting as it was terrifying, and he was glad to have the company of the grizzly companion of one of his parents.
With Eytan at his side, the pair wandered south and east a little ways - not that Murtagh knew those were the directions he was going on, but they were going away from the mountains to the north. He followed the pathways through the Forest he had visited with Papa and Kaj and the vegetation started to change.

Trees were replaced by strange plants that were almost like trees - only much skinner. And there was a whooolle whack of them all over the place. As the day grew late, mist started to roll in through the plants. It was the perfect setting for a game of hide-and-seek - Murtagh inviting the play by nudging the bear before running off. It didn’t occur to him, just yet, that this wasn’t a good place to play games. The thick bamboo and the mist quickly the boy from the bear and it took a couple minutes, trampling through a chilly puddle, for the colt to realize he had run off too far. “Uh oh, Mama.” Everywhere he looked, all he saw was grey fog and the green shoots of the plants. “Mama?” He called out, tentatively, lavender eyes casting about as a sudden flare of panic rose in him - an emotion he wasn’t used to.